Lydia Ko, 15, is No. 1 women's amateur

Updated 11:52 pm, Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Photo: Steve Gibbons, USGA Museum

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Lydia Ko plays her second shot at the first hole during the second round of stroke play at the 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif. on Tuesday, July 17, 2012. (Copyright USGA/Steve Gibbons) less

Lydia Ko plays her second shot at the first hole during the second round of stroke play at the 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif. on Tuesday, July 17, 2012. (Copyright ... more

Photo: Steve Gibbons, USGA Museum

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Kathleen Scavo plays her tee shot at the fifth hole during the second round of stroke play at the 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif. on Tuesday, July 17, 2012. (Copyright USGA/Steve Gibbons) less

Kathleen Scavo plays her tee shot at the fifth hole during the second round of stroke play at the 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif. on Tuesday, July 17, 2012. (Copyright ... more

Photo: Steve Gibbons, USGA Museum

Image 3 of 4

Kathleen Scavo plays her tee shot at the sixth hole during the second round of stroke play at the 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif. on Tuesday, July 17, 2012. (Copyright USGA/Steve Gibbons) less

Kathleen Scavo plays her tee shot at the sixth hole during the second round of stroke play at the 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif. on Tuesday, July 17, 2012. (Copyright ... more

Photo: Steve Gibbons, USGA Museum

Image 4 of 4

Kathleen Scavo plays her third shot at the sixth hole during the second round of stroke play at the 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif. on Tuesday, July 17, 2012. (Copyright USGA/Steve Gibbons) less

Kathleen Scavo plays her third shot at the sixth hole during the second round of stroke play at the 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif. on Tuesday, July 17, 2012. (Copyright ... more

She had just coasted in the first round of match play at the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, rolling to a 7-and-6 victory over Mikayla Harmon of Arizona. Earlier this month, Ko earned low-amateur honors at the U.S. Women's Open. In January, at 14, she became the youngest player ever (male or female) to win a professional event, eclipsing the mark previously held by Japan's Ryo Ishikawa.

Now, at 15, Ko is the No. 1-ranked women's amateur in the world. It would be awfully tempting for her to picture an imminent, headlong dive into the Darwinian world of professional golf, but she's wisely resisting.

At least for now.

"I want to turn pro, but I don't think I need to rush things," Ko said. "There's a lot to learn."

Golf, more than any sport this side of tennis, wades in young prodigies with grand ambitions. Two 12-year-olds qualified for this week's Girls Junior. Neither of them advanced to match play, but one 13-year-old did (Mika Liu lost Wednesday).

Ko practically seems like a grizzled veteran by comparison. She was born in Korea and took up the game at age 5, when her aunt gave her a 7-iron and putter. Before long, she came to savor knocking around a little white ball.

Ko's family moved to New Zealand when she was 6, and she soon began to win amateur tournaments around the country. Now her game transcends boundaries - she has been the world's top-ranked amateur for more than a year, despite only turning 15 in April.

Wednesday, she talked of representing New Zealand in the 2016 Olympics and bringing home a gold medal. Ko insisted she will remain an amateur for at least "a couple more years" and plans to play college golf in the United States.

She pointed to Lexi Thompson and Michelle Wie as role models. They turned pro young, with varying degrees of success (Wie is struggling mightily this year). There are examples on both sides of the turn-pro-early equation, from Paula Creamer (nine LPGA wins, including one major) to Aree Song (Girls Junior title at 13, now all but off the map).

Tom Wade, formerly the head pro at Blue Rock in Vallejo, knows the routine. He hiked around Lake Merced on Wednesday as the caddie for Kathleen Scavo of Benicia, a longtime student. Asked about the amateur/pro question weighing on Ko and other marquee players, Wade preached patience.

"I would caution players," he said. "There are so few, like Lexi, who have that talent and ability. I know a lot of girls have the dream, but my advice is go to college, get that education and then go on tour later if you have a chance."

Ko has plenty of time to become a standout in the pro game. She got a jump start, in some ways, by winning the New South Wales Open in Australia in January, supplanting Ishikawa in the record book. Then she held her own in the U.S. Women's Open, tying for 39th.

Now she's back in the amateur world, frolicking among other teenagers. This week's tournament at Lake Merced brings together 18-and-younger players with various degrees of acclaim - from Ko to those such as Scavo, making her first start in a USGA event.

Scavo, a sophomore-to-be at Justin Siena High in Napa, conquered raging nerves in her 1-up win Wednesday over Lindsey McCurdy of Texas. It was impossible not to notice Scavo's tension as she played the final four holes, but she kept her game together and finished off the win.

She has played in other prominent junior events - she won the California Junior Girls' State Championship last month at Monterey Peninsula - but the U.S. Girls' Junior is another beast altogether.

"It was really nerve-wracking," Scavo said. "This is different, just because it's a national tournament and there's a lot of great competition."

Casie Cathrea of Livermore joined Scavo in advancing to Thursday's round of 32. So did 16-year-old Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand, the tournament's defending champion.

Briefly: Tiger Woods is not expected to return to the Frys.com Open outside San Jose in October. He will play in a lucrative, eight-man tournament that week in Turkey, according to recent published reports in Great Britain. ... The American Century Championship, the annual Lake Tahoe celebrity tournament, begins Friday and runs through Sunday. Among the players in this year's field are Alex Smith, Carson Palmer, Jerry Rice, Aaron Rodgers and, of course, Charles Barkley.

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